Game Over GPS Navigators Quietly Admit defeat in the battle versus Mobile Nav Apps

I agree with the sentiment expressed in the article. I believe Garmin's better days are behind them and they are looking to expand their product offerings beyond the one-trick-pony of navigation only. This probably is the reason new maps are not forthcoming as that employee sector has probably undergone either a downsizing or reshuffling in order to focus on new technologies and products.

And yes, I think standalone navigation devices will go the way of the dodo bird. I have never owned one. Always used a smartphone for offline navigation.

I'm glad I have a lifetime supply of Garmins, including my trusty 3597's and Driveluxe 51's.

I hope Garmin will continue to offer map updates for at least a few years after production stops on their automobile nav products.

The market is still strong for their radar, aviation and marine nav products, so I don't think they will go belly up any time soon.

I really depend on our RV-1090, 10 inch screen for RV navigation, and RV campground, and other large vehicle information that it provides. It also updates directly from the unit.

I assume that if Garmin stops support for our model, we will use an iPad, rather than an iPhone for navigation, but it will lack that jump to other RV specific information feature that works so well.

Also, cell service in often not available in national parks and some interesting remote destinations.

Soo... I understand from a car driver standpoint, but RVers have special needs that Truck Drivers do not.

I had linked to that same content about a week ago. One thing in the content that is mentioned is a manufacturer named “Mio”. At least one of their current automotive devices (Spirit 7700 LM) actually uses TomTom maps. See https://www.mio.com/en_eeu/products/navigation/car-navigatio.... But the USA maps at that link are shown as short term “rentals”.

Perhaps something like that would be in the future of Garmin?

Well, I hope my Nuvi never dies. GPS signals are world wide, not so much cell coverage.
My cell plan is also very limited as I don't use it much. Hey, it is $40./year. Having to get an unlimited plan just to support navigation is ridiculous.

phone based navigation is great because of maps being updated constantly. Waze has current user input data which is very helpful. Phone based maps are horrible at waypoint management and completely incompetent at routes with more than one point. Not only do they not do it, you cannot store it and reuse it later. They also depend on cell towers, for the most part, which is not good if one is using backroads.

Garmin are the inverse. Everything bad about phone navigation is great on a Garmin. Everything great (above) about a phone navigation is not great on a Garmin.

For road trips, Garmin is my go to. I will run Waze in parallel to capture those benefits, but I navigate from Garmin. I only use Waze for current changing information and stops where I need to have current POIs - gasoline station and restaurant verification typically.

Well... That wasn't always an option. One couldn't use a smartphone for navigation when there were no smartphones and then, once smartphones became available, one still had to wait for the advent of the apps to make them function as navigational devices. I also used my trusty nüvi 760 to play audible books through the car stereo.

My cellphone is strictly “Pay as you go” so NO expensive DATA.
I have to say though that I am impressed by my daughter who uses Waze. It offers up to date traffic info such as a stalled car ahead. But it is not worth to me paying big bucks for the data plan required.l

Wifi is available just about anywhere. So why pay an absorbent price for data? I have Android Auto and Apple Carplay, which i'll never use because you need data. I'm 70 now and dunno how long i will able to drive, but for sure my Garmin will get me there. Just cause its there I have to comply?

I have travelled in many places where wifi isn’t available while on the highway and while in motion. I too have a dumbphone, $6/month. I get about two texts a week and a similar number of phone calls. I love it!

The idea is that one doesn't need data on their phone, its a want. Any Mall or restaurant generally has wifi. You can pretty much do anything with wifi. I'd hate to think i need to pay for data just to use my phone in the car. I'm driving....right? Hands on the wheel, watching Traffic.

in public buildings, often. On the road--pretty much never.

I said Malls and restaurants.

We use a Garmin 770 for our RV which routes according to weight and height. Though we have our laptops for route planning and phones for secondary routing by far the Garmin is the most important to avoid low bridges and bridges which cannot handle the weight. There are still many areas in the country which have no cellular signal so you cannot update your map on your phone while in those areas. I've been learning to use QGIS and OpenStreetMap with PostgreSQL/PostGIS database to build a personal mapping for off grid, offline use on a NAS. This allows viewing in several modes, Satellite, Google, Topo and others. Hopefully I can learn to show routes that relate to weight and height restrictions to be able to plan accordingly, but for now I rely on the Garmin. As long as the mapping in the Garmin gets updates it will still be the number one tool while driving an RV.

I agree with you; hoping they continue to offer map updates